Coming Home
by ColdComfort4
Summary: A lot of things changed while Wanderer was asleep. Melanie tells about waking up, her reunions, and finally picking out the perfect body for Wanda.
1. Awake

**AN: So this is my first official posting of my fanfiction! Wow, I'm so excited to be here and hope that you all like my work in the future. I'm easing my way into this so any help or advice you have is greatly appreciated.**

**A big thank you goes to Ein Kampf kann eine Lebenszeit for being my very first beta and being so nice to a nervous new author. You're awesome!!

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Chapter 1 – Awake

It was quiet. Very quiet.

Voices spoke in my ear, but they didn't reach where I wanted them to. In my head, all was silent.

I could feel my body lying on the hard cot. Feeling things wasn't what I had been denied for the past year. I had no idea how to move. Still, in the emptiness of my mind, it hardly mattered.

"Wanda."

Well, it seemed that my lips knew how to move.

"Wanda." She had really done it. Doc had really done it. She was gone. Tears leaked out of my still closed eyes. "Wanda. Wanda!" I couldn't stop repeating her name.

The voices started to become coherent.

"Melanie? Mel, can you hear me?"

"Give her a minute. She'll come around."

I didn't want to come around. My companion, my sister, was gone. All my efforts at saving her had been wasted. I had even tried to erase myself just so that she could stay.

I opened my eyes, slowly, but the picture was a blur. I couldn't make sense of it. It was brown and blue and green.

"Where is she?" I asked. "Where's Wanda?"

"Right here."

I turned to the sound of the voice. After blinking several more times, I could make out Doc standing beside my bed, holding a lit cryotank in his hands, with a shining silver soul resting inside.

She was alive!!!

Feeling like I was moving through water, I reached for the tank. He placed it in my hands.

"Thank you, Doc. Thank you for saving her. When I found out what she had planned - I've been trying to talk her out of it for days."

"Don't thank me," he answered, "it was Jared who saved the day."

"Jared?" I hadn't noticed him standing on the other side of the cot. He was watching me with worried eyes. His cheeks were wet, covered in tears.

"He threatened to slit my throat if I didn't put her in the tank." Doc chuckled quietly.

I couldn't speak; my heart was in my throat. Instead I reached up to wipe the tears from Jared's face. He grabbed my hand and held it there, fresh tears flowing.

"Mel." He leaned over me and kissed my forehead. _My_ forehead. He wasn't kissing Wanda this time. It was _me_. Only me.

Maybe there were advantages to being alone in here.

I pulled his lips down to meet mine, and the fire exploded. He wrapped his arms around my waist and moved me into a sitting position. I kept one arm securely around Wanda's tank, but with the other I held Jared tightly. As tight as I possibly could. I was never letting go of him again.

Abruptly I pulled back, looking sheepishly in Doc's direction. There was no one there. Kyle still slept soundly with his arm over Jodi. I looked back at Jared and then yawned.

He chuckled. "You must be exhausted."

"Yeah, but, I have to talk to Ian."

His face was concerned. "Right now?"

"I'd feel terrible if I waited. He deserves better."

"Alright, let's go."

Jared helped me down from the cot, but didn't let go of me as we headed out of the hospital. I kept the lit cryotank tucked carefully under my arm. The tunnels were quieter now. It must have been later than I thought. How long had I been under?

"Mel..." Jared began

I turned to look at him. He seemed to be struggling to find words. "What? Spit it out."

My favorite smile was back. It lit up the gold in his eyes. "That's my girl. But, Mel, I'm so sorry about everything. The way I treated Wanda. Letting you go at all. You do realize that I'm never letting you out of my sight again?"

"Likewise. And don't be stupid. Sure, you were a pig at first, but who wouldn't have been? Besides, when we first got here, I was mostly just happy that you and Jaime were okay. It was later that it was more frustrating."

"Later? Like when?"

I smiled ruefully. "Well, when Ian kissed me - her - oh but that made me mad! And you too! Because, I could feel you kissing her, but I couldn't do anything about it."

"Except for punch me."

We both laughed. It felt so good to laugh! And it was _my_ voice that laughed at something _I_ found funny. I laughed even more at the joy of expressing my own emotions.

"I wasn't about to just sit there and watch you touch someone else!"

Jared stopped walking and pulled me around to face him. We were at the entrance to the main room now.

"I'm not touching anyone else now," he said while tracing my arms with his hands. I shivered and copied the movement with my free left hand, till it rested on the back of his neck.

"No, you're not."

His lips touched mine softly, opening and closing slowly. We both knew he couldn't keep it up for long. Within seconds he had pulled me tight to his body and the heat was everywhere. It was awkward, with Wanda's tank in the way, but he managed to grab my hips and hold them against him. His lips traveled across my jaw and down my neck. I was gasping and my heart was pounding.

Oh yes, I had missed this.

"Jared," I managed to breathe.

He acted like he hadn't heard me, his hands sneaking under my shirt to rub my back.

"Jared," I said with more force. "Not now."

"Why not?" he growled in my ear before nibbling it.

That didn't help. The familiar chills ran down my spine. Completely without my permission, my leg hitched around his, anchoring myself to him.

_No, no!_ I told myself. I was half-surprised when no one answered me.

"First of all, because we are in a very public place, and Jaime is sure to be sleeping in your room. And second," I continued before he could argue, "Ian needs to know what's going on. I have to take him Wanda."

Jared looked into my eyes for a long moment. I could see the slight disappointment there, which I almost found amusing. I'd been back for less than ten minutes and already he couldn't wait?

I was saved by the voices coming from the main room. We clearly weren't alone.

"Later," I said, and took his hand in mine to walk down the hall.

It still wasn't very late; there were a few people walking from the bathrooms toward the sleeping area. I knew the name of every person who passed.

_Yes, but what will they think when they realize I'm not who they think I am?_ I was met again by that eerie silence where Wanda used to be. Huh, I would never have guessed that it would be something I missed, but I realized now that I had enjoyed having someone to talk to at all times. We had had no secrets from each other, not by the end at least, and like she had said once, it was nice to have the company.

But it was my head, and I was glad to have it back. So, even though I missed Wanda, and was sorry that I couldn't talk to her right now, I didn't miss it enough to suggest putting her back in me. Ian wouldn't have minded that, I was fairly sure. Maybe we'd put Wanda in him for good measure. I almost laughed at the thought of Wanda inside that huge man. Ian's body acting with all the tenderness and kindness of the soul Wanderer. No, there had to be a better solution than that.

My thoughts were interrupted when I saw Lacey come out into the plaza. She saw me too, and gave me the look she'd been giving Wanda for the last couple days. It was similar to the look the Seeker had. Narrowed eyes. Pursed lips. Nose scrunched up like it smelled something bad.

I snapped.

All the memories of the Seeker came to me at once. From the first time I saw her through my eyes controlled by Wanda to her snippy emails to her accusations of Wanda's weakness. I remembered her suggestion that she be put in my body. Wanda's statement from then was correct, I would have eaten her alive.

All these thoughts were completely incorrect, of course, since I was looking at Lacey and not the nameless Seeker. But this girl did still hate Wanda and had asked if I had been brainwashed. Her boorish ways were not much better than the soul we had sent away. If anything, they were worse, and they made my head boil with rage.

Wanda had always been too sweet. She said it made her head hurt when I was angry. That anger was ugly. That was probably true, but I was human, and anger was an emotion I felt regularly.

Now, with my body fatigued from lack of sleep, and no kind soul to stem the flow, my anger surged through me and I felt like a charging bull as I glared back at Lacey. I was in front of her in a few short strides. I was mildly aware of Jared trotting behind me. Lacey's eyes showed a quick spasm of fear, and then resumed their hatred.

Oh boy was she going to get it.

"I just need to make one thing clear here," my voice coming out hard and cold as ice. A few others turned to look as us. Some might even have guessed what was going on. "If it had been up to me, I would have had you shot, no questions asked. It was Wanda's idea to save you. You better remember that you owe her your life."

Her eyes grew wide, suddenly taking in the tank I carried. Her face went sour again when she looked back into my face.

"She really brainwashed you, didn't she? Can't think for yourself even without her?"

Jared caught my arm before I could slap her. I didn't know why he stopped me, but it was sort of satisfying to see her cringe in front of me.

My breath was coming in shallow gasps I was so angry. "If I had to choose between you and her, I'd pick her in a heartbeat. She's staying here, and unless you want to see how you'd fare against me, I suggest you stay out of both our ways."

Lacey cowered back before my gaze. Slowly, as if afraid to provoke me again, she slunk off toward the bedrooms. There were at least ten other people watching now, probably having heard the commotion, Sharon and Maggie included. Their faces were set in identical hard masks. Part of me wanted to greet them, for they were, after all, family. But the memories of how they had treated Wanda, and the fact that they would rather have watched Jaime die than accept help had me glaring at them almost as viciously as I had at Lacey. Rather than face my wrath, they both turned and walked away without a backward glance.

Smart of them.

I was suddenly surrounded by other smiling faces. Trudy, Paige, Andy, Aaron, Heidi, Brandt; their faces were all a blur. I couldn't make sense of all the people shaking my hand and patting my shoulder.

"Welcome back, Melanie!"

"It's great to meet you finally."

"What will happen to Wanda?"

"How are you feeling?"

They were all talking so quickly that there wasn't much time to answer them. I repeated my greetings and assurances that I felt fine. A few of them touched Wanda's tank gently and I saw an echo of the sadness we had seen in Ian's eyes from before. Uncle Jeb was right. Wanda was loved here, and we certainly had ourselves a pickle.

Jared finally shook everyone off for me. "Cool it, guys. She's exhausted. You'll all get a chance to talk to her later." The small crowd dispersed, letting me and Jared move away from them and toward Ian and the news I was not excited to give.


	2. Loved

Chapter 2 – Loved

When we stopped in front of the red and gray doors, I was nervous. How would Ian take it? Would he be angry at me? He would definitely be angry at Jared.

"Jared," I said, turning to him, "Ian is going to want to rip your head off. I think he shouldn't see you just yet."

"I don't want him ripping your head off."

My eyes narrowed at the thought. "He wouldn't dare."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," I nodded. "It will be fine."

"I'm staying right here."

I sighed and let Jared pull the door out of my way. Ian was sprawled where I - Wanda - had left him. I sat down carefully on the second mattress and watched him for just a moment.

I thought about the first time I had seen Ian, how he had had almost as much hate in his eyes as Kyle. How had that changed? I'd been paying so much attention to Jared and Jaime, it had been too late when I realized Ian was falling in love with Wanda.

There had to be a way to keep her here. She wouldn't be happy about it, but there wasn't much she could do about it. If, as I suspected, some humans disappeared completely from their bodies, then we could find her someone different. A body where it would just be her.

It would be nice to tell myself that I was doing that for Ian, or even for Wanda, but the truth was that I had grown so attached to her myself, I couldn't bear the thought of losing her.

I had always been surrounded by men. My dad, lost to the Seekers. Jaime, growing up so fast that I had to admit he'd soon be a man. And Jared, who was more to me than the whole world. I knew how to handle men. But Wanda. Wanda and I would always share a special bond. We had shared each other. In her, I had found a sister, and I wasn't giving her up.

Ian groaned and rolled, then settled back into his deep sleep.

_Might as well get this over with._ Nothing, still silence.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Ian."

He didn't budge.

I leaned over and put my hand on his shoulder. I was pleased that there was no electricity there, no jolt like when I touched Jared, but my heart did thump strangely. Ignoring that, I shook him.

"Ian," I called louder. He stirred, and then was suddenly wide awake.

"Wanda?" he asked, confusion in his eyes.

I opened my mouth to explain, but no words came out. I felt guilty as hell. What was I supposed to say to make this right?

As I fumbled, trying to think of something to say, Ian's eyes settled on the tank in my arms.

"NO!!!!"

He snatched at the tank so fast I almost missed it.

"Careful!!" I yelled at him.

He was clutching the glowing cryotank with all the tenderness of a new mother. I thought I saw a tear glisten on his cheek.

"Wanda knew you would never let her go, so she went to Doc alone. I'm so sorry, Ian."

His gaze turned accusingly to me. "And Doc just did it?! I'm going to murder him."

"Don't you dare! She made him absolutely swear to do it forever ago. It was her price for teaching him how to remove a soul. Actually..." I thought about this for a moment. Ian was going to be furious with Jared no matter what, but I wanted to justify him any way that I could. "Wanda forced Doc to promise that he wouldn't put her in a tank at all."

I let that sink in for a moment before adding quietly. "She asked him to bury her with Wes and Walter."

To my surprise, his reaction was not what it was when he found that she had been removed. His voice was steely, though, when he said, "then I guess I owe Doc big time."

"No, you owe Jared." He cocked his head. "Jared figured out what she was doing in time. He changed Doc's mind through ... persuasion."

Ian's eyes were red and puffy, and I couldn't decide if that was because he was going to cry again or if he was just tired. Either way, I could tell that he needed me. I scooted to sit next to him on his mattress and rub his arm. For a while, we just sat together.

Suddenly, I pulled back and looked him in the eye. My heart thumped again as his blue eyes met mine. It was not nearly as strong as with Jared, but my body clearly remembered Ian. I wanted to reach out to him again, to stroke his face and hold him close.

It looked like Wanda had left her imprint on me.

Fighting the urge, I moved away from him, putting much needed space between our bodies. I could see the confusion in his face. Neither of us seemed to know what to say.

Was it going to be this awkward between him and me forever?

Probably.

Ian turned away from me, looking down at Wanda, glowing silver. "So...what do we do now?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm not sure yet. She doesn't want to leave Earth, and I don't think we should make her. But other than that, I don't know."

Ian looked like he was about to say something else, but I was getting desperate to leave the tiny room with him. His body was both too close and not close enough for my liking. "Look, let's all sleep on it for now. I'm dead tired, and I'm sure you are too. I need time to adjust, but we'll figure something out."

Before he could protest, I stood and fled to the hall, where Jared was waiting for me with open arms.

I relaxed in his embrace for a long minute, then he pulled me gently toward his room. Our room. There was no way I was sleeping anywhere other than with Jared and Jaime.

Sure enough, Jaime was lying in the middle of Jared's double mattress. Jared started to say something about grabbing the other twin from Ian's room, but I stopped him.

"This is the first time I've really had you both back in a long time. We'll fit somehow."

I coaxed Jaime to the edge of the bed, then curled myself around him. I felt Jared do the same with me, wrapping his arms securely around my waist. It was crowded, but by clinging to each other, we managed to not fall off.

I could feel his hot breath against my neck, and it felt as good as I remembered. Just before I fell asleep, I heard him whisper in my ear.

"I love you, Melanie."

"I love you, Jared." I was almost gone, but I needed to make something clear. "I love you with my whole heart and soul."


	3. Replaced

Chapter 3 – Replaced

I woke up to Jaime stirring.

He turned to look at me. "Hey, Wanda. I thought you'd be with Ian."

"Jaime," there was a lump in my throat. I had thought a good night's rest would have relaxed me a bit. "Wanda is with Ian."

Jared was stroking my arm while I waited for Jaime's response. His eyes got wide a half second before he threw his arms around me.

"Mel! You're back. I missed you so much! I mean, I know you were here, but it wasn't the same. And I do love Wanda, but I wanted to talk to you. I'm so glad you came back. How do you feel? Are you mad at me? I'm sorry I didn't believe you would come back. You always come back. But don't leave again, okay, Mel? I want you to stay right here!"

Jaime hardly took a breath through his whole speech. I held him close and ran my fingers through his hair. It was getting long.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. And why would I be mad? I'm so proud of you. You've been so brave and helpful. I'm glad Wanda had you to help look after her."

His ears turned a bit red. I knew Jaime. Compliments in the right place and time made him puff out his chest like a proud bird.

"Will she stay?" The worry in his voice was evident.

"I don't know, Jaime. I won't put her in a body with someone else, but I'm not sending her to a different planet, either. For now, we're all just going to have to keep thinking about what might work best."

"Can I see her?" He jumped up so fast that he almost took me and Jared with him.

"Okay, but be careful with her. Ian's got her, so I'm sure wherever you find him, you'll find Wanda."

"Aren't you coming?"

I was far too comfortable in Jared's arms. Not to mention the fact that I was dreading meeting everyone in the community. Again. I was sure that my confrontation with Lacey was the latest cave news.

"Not right now."

"Okay. Love you, Mel." He squeezed his way around the screen and I heard his footsteps as they echoed their way down the tunnel.

I sighed, relieved. "That went better than expected."

"What do you mean?" Jared's voice was soft in my ear.

"Wanda and I have been most worried about Jaime. You and Ian were only fighting for one of us. Jaime loves us both. He should never have to choose."

"He won't have to. We'll find her another body."

I rolled over to look in his eyes. "I'm not putting her in unless we're sure that some humans never wake up. She was partly lying yesterday. No matter what host we put her in, she'd never put anyone here in danger. But, it would be torture to make her live in a body with someone else again. I won't do it."

His mouth was a hard line, but he nodded. Wanting to erase the worry in his eyes, I pulled him to me and kissed him softly. He responded immediately.

Jared and I didn't come out of our room all morning. It was heaven, this time we had to spend with just the two of us, trying to make up for all the time we had missed.

He wanted a play by play of everything that had happened. And not just from the time I was caught till Wanda and I had shown up; he wanted to know what my opinion was on everything Wanda had done with my body.

It was a relief to talk and move so freely. Eventually, though, both of our stomachs reminded us that we hadn't eaten all day.

We walked hand in hand to the kitchen, still talking so much we hardly had time for breath. There were a few people there, but they merely smiled and waved at us. I saw a few of them with curiosity burning in their eyes. I still didn't feel ready to talk to them.

After we had eaten, Jared and I decided to see what was going on in the hospital. There were voices drifting down the hallway, but they were so muddled that I couldn't figure out who they belonged to.

When we got around the corner, I was surprised at how many people were in the small southern room. I had expected it to be almost empty, but Doc, Mandy, and Trudy were standing next to his desk. Mandy still looked timid, but seemed to feel better with Trudy holding her hand.

Ian and Kyle were standing on opposite sides of Jodi's cot. They were mirror images of each other; each with a lit cryotank in one hand, stroking the arm of the small girl with the other. I shook my head in disbelief. Those two were more alike than they'd ever admit.

Jared spoke up first. "How's she doing?"

The two brothers looked up, and the group at Doc's desk paused for a moment.

Kyle brought his eyes back down immediately. "No change."

I noticed that Ian's eyes lingered on my face for longer than normal.

We all stayed there for several minutes, looking at Jodi as we avoided looking at each other. Eventually, I started listening to the other conversation in the room.

"It's really used very often."

"We have limited resources and have to make do."

"I don't know how I'd survive without it."

Curious, I wandered over to the desk. Mandy cringed back into Trudy as I approached.

"That's the soul!"

Trudy stroked her arm. "Shhh, it's okay, Candy. She's not a soul anymore. This is Melanie."

I cocked my head. "Candy?"

"I remembered it last night. You...you were like me." She looked absolutely terrified. I tried to smile kindly.

"Yes, I had a soul in me, too. But she gave me my body back."

"Why?"

I sighed and glanced back at Wanda in Ian's arm. "Because she knew it was right."

There was an awkward pause before Doc helpfully changed the subject. "Candy has been telling me about the medicines we still don't have."

Candy nodded. "He doesn't even have Mend!"

This even got Jared's curiosity going. "What does Mend do?" he asked.

"It heals internal injuries," Candy said. "Heal is for outside cuts. Mend is for broken bones, bruises, pulled muscles, things like that. You also don't have Sleep or Awake or Still."

I glanced at Jared, a question in my eyes. He nodded. "We could probably get them for you," he said.

Her face lit up. "Really?"

"Sure, next time we raid, I'll bring some back."

She looked absolutely delighted. "And a scanner?"

"What's that?" he asked.

"A computer hooked to a device that diagnoses any problem. It helps us know what is wrong with the body so we can properly heal it."

Jared was thoughtful. "That one might be difficult. I doubt we'd be able to walk out of a hospital carrying a computer without anyone noticing."

Candy was clearly disappointed, but Doc addressed her again.

"Candy," Doc said, "do you know how the different medications work?"

She nodded again. This was clearly a topic she felt comfortable with. They launched into a discussion far too complex for my own understanding. It seemed too complex for everyone except Doc, but Trudy stayed calmly by Candy's side, still holding her hand.

Jared and I found Jeb after that, and he had just as many questions as Jared had, but his were more about how I had managed to stay, talk to Wanda, and control my body. Jaime found us after school, jabbering on and on about things I had witnessed, but he seemed intent on making sure I had missed nothing from the past few months.

I was tired again as we headed to bed. Talking all day had been more work that I thought. But there was something from the day I wouldn't mind repeating.

"Jaime?" I said.

"Yeah, Mel?"

"Would you mind sleeping in Ian's room?"

Jared raised his eyebrows at me. Jaime, however, seemed almost to have been expecting this. He looked back and forth between me and Jared, smiling.

"Sure, no problem. Have a nice night!" And he ran off toward Ian's room.

Jared and I didn't sleep a whole lot that night.

We spent the next day working around the caves. It was nice doing the manual labor - actually having control over the muscles that would bunch and stretch as we irrigated the wheat. Jared never left my side the whole day, and whenever we could, we held hands. It would take a lot more than an invading alien race to separate us this time.

The other nice thing about the hard work was that it gave me a chance to interact with the people in the community without being constantly bombarded. We were so busy that conversations were short and few, giving us all the space we needed to get used to one another.

I laughed as I realized I was going through the same routine Wanda had when she and I had first arrived.

Two mornings later, after crashing in our room and getting a lot more sleep than we had on our first night alone, Doc came to get us at breakfast.

"Melanie, Jared. Will you come with me? It's Jodi."

We jumped up and followed him down to the hospital. He spoke to us on the way.

"It's been almost 72 hours. We can keep her hydrated, but I don't know how to feed her at all. She could very well starve to death. And on top of that, if we let the body just sit like this much longer, the muscles will start to deteriorate. And the brain will begin to lose functionality. But I don't know what else to do!"

We had reached the hospital by now. Kyle didn't look like he had moved at all in the past three days. There was no one else there.

I walked over slowly and put my free hand on his shoulder. "Kyle? Kyle, we're worried about Jodi."

The only acknowledgment he gave was a simple head nod.

Doc continued, repeating his concerns, but gently this time. When he had finished explaining, no one spoke for several minutes.

"Put Sunny back in."

There was a shocked silence as we all turned to look at Kyle. He still wasn't looking at us, but he kept speaking. "She was so sweet and, maybe... maybe she'll be able to find Jodi. Like Wanda found Melanie."

I didn't want to point out that I didn't exactly need finding, except for that one time.

Doc was already moving. He gathered the necessary instruments and placed them on the table next to the cot.

Kyle handed me the cryotank. "I don't know what to do," he said. He moved out of my way and held Jodi's hand.

Doc put a No Pain on her tongue and then got Kyle to help him flip her over. I pressed the button on the tank that began thawing. Wanda hadn't specifically taught us this, but I still remembered how the tanks worked, and Doc could figure out easily enough the insertion process.

"Ready, Melanie?" Doc asked.

The light on the lid had turned purple. "Yes. Make the incision."

When we could see the spinal column leading up to the brain, Doc stopped and turned to me. I took the lid off the container and carefully took out the silvery soul. I tipped my hand over the wound, letting Sunny slide off my hand and into the body on the table. She slowly stretched, reaching in all directions as she searched for the right places to put her antennae. After several minutes, she stopped moving, and I gave Doc the go ahead to close the wound.

Sunny woke up almost immediately after we moved her to a clean cot, though she gazed around with obvious confusion.

"Sunny?" Kyle said.

She turned to him. "Kyle? What happened?"

He swallowed. "We, we were wondering if maybe you'd like to stay."

"Really? Can I?"

"Yes, Sunny," I said, stepping forward, "but we were hoping you'd help us."

"Help you with what, Wanderer?"

Oh. Of course. Sunny hadn't actually met me yet.

I shook my head at her. "I'm Melanie. I was Wanderer's host. She and I used to talk all the time. Do you think you could try to talk to Jodi?"

Sunny looked at me like I was crazy. "I don't know how to do that," she said in a very quiet voice.

I glanced at Kyle, who was looking at me with a pleading look.

I tried to put some hope in my voice for his sake. It worked fairly well - I was a better liar than Wanda. "That's okay, Sunny. Just keep trying, and let us know if you ever hear her."

She seemed to think about that for a minute and then nodded. Kyle then took her to the kitchen, and Jared and I set off to look for Ian.

We found him in the eastern field, helping with the irrigation. Wanda's tank was on the ground right next to him.

I moved over to him and reached down to pick up the tank. His hands were faster. Ian grabbed Wanda and gave me a look that clearly told me not to try that kind of stunt again. I tried to ignore the slight butterflies in my stomach when I saw his blue eyes and instead motioned him to follow me. Jeb happened to be there too, and I waved him over. He deserved a say in this.

When we were out of earshot, I turned to them, Jared squeezing my hand reassuringly.

"Ian, Jodi never woke up."

He looked pained. "Is she gone then?"

"Well," I hesitated. "We're not entirely sure. Kyle asked us to insert Sunny. He's getting her something to eat right now."

They both looked staggered by this news. But after a minute, Jeb was nodding.

"Yup. So I guess you want to go get a body for Wanda, that right?"

Ian gasped and clutched the cryotank tighter.

"What do you think, Ian?" I asked.

"Definitely."

I smiled at him. He actually cracked a small smile back. "Alright then, let's go."

I started to move, but Ian shook his head at me. "I'm not coming."

"What?" Jared said.

"I'm not coming," he repeated. "I don't care. Just bring someone back that she'll like. You know she won't complain, no matter who we find. But, make it good for her."

I tried to touch her tank again, but Ian moved it out of my reach. I dropped my hand, giving up.

"Don't worry," I said. "We'll do it right."

I wanted to let Jaime know we were leaving, so we pulled him out of school for a minute, under Sharon's furious glare.

"Gee, thanks, Mel. Sharon's been awful lately."

"Maybe we'll get Wanda to teach again in a few days."

His eyes lit up as he processed my meaning. "Alright! Are you going to find her a new body?"

"Yeah, we'll leave as soon as it's dark."

"Can I come?!"

"No!"

His face fell. "Aw, please, Mel? I'll be good."

I still remembered what had happened on his last raid. "Absolutely not."

He was begging by this point. "Please? Please please please! I promise to do everything you and Jared say and I won't get in the way. I can really help picking a body that's good for Wanda."

That made me think. Besides me and Ian, Jaime was the person who knew Wanda best.

Jared voiced my thoughts. "I think the kid's earned it."

I pursed my lips as I thought about it. Finally I nodded.

Jaime let out a celebratory whoop.

"But, listen up," I said. "You will do exactly what we tell you to and you will not leave the van unless necessary. If I decide to change my mind we will turn around right away and bring you back."

He was hardly listening. "No problem, come on, let's go!"


	4. Found

Chapter 4 – Found

I guess I should have expected that it wouldn't be easy.

We had picked up Candy's medication requests early on at a hospital loading dock in San Diego and spent a little time playing around with them. Mend was actually a small pill that you swallowed. It instantly healed a bruise Jared had. Jaime had accidentally gotten a whiff of the Sleep. It had knocked him out for a solid 4 hours. Guess we wouldn't need the chloroform we had brought. Not that we had found an opportunity to try it on anyone but ourselves.

It was hard work to spy on the souls enough to get information on them, while staying out of sight so as not to draw attention to ourselves. In previous body snatching raids, Jared and the others had simply grabbed a few people at night, doused them with chloroform and been done with it.

We had more rules than that.

Three potential bodies had been rejected. One turned out to have a partner already, and that would have meant a higher likelihood of a search. I didn't mention it to the others, but it would also have meant that Wanda would feel a tie to this soul, and I refused to leave her with that.

A girl in San Francisco had looked promising. She was young, with very dark hair and tan skin, like she had Asian ancestors. But after following her for a few days, I decided that she also had too many ties. She had a large group of friends that she spent practically all her time with, and went to see her Comforter twice in the three days I followed her. Definitely not.

I almost thought we'd take the third girl we found, but Jared had absolutely refused. He didn't say as much, but I thought it might be because she had looked quite a bit like me.

So now we were in Seattle, sleeping nights in the van while parked near some camp grounds. We spent the days driving aimlessly through the suburbs, searching for another target.

"We should think about moving on soon," Jared said. "People near the campsite are starting to recognize the van."

"Already?" Jaime said. "Didn't we just get here?"

"It's been 5 days, kid."

Jaime frowned, keeping his eyes out the window, scanning potential candidates.

I was doing the same in the front seat. Each day we drove through several neighborhoods, looking for a girl who would be about 16 and alone. We hadn't found one we liked yet.

As Jared turned the corner, I saw in a small park a blond girl reading a book.

"Hey," I said. "What about her?"

They followed my gaze.

Jared scoffed. "She's too young, Mel."

"I don't think so," Jaime disagreed.

"Oh, come on, she's got to be, what, 12?"

"No way, she's probably 14. That's not that bad."

"Ian's 26. He's not going to be happy if we bring him home a baby."

I interrupted before they could really get going. "She might be a little young, but we need someone young. And we're out of options in this city. I say we follow her."

We parked a block away in the shade of a large tree. The girl finally put a rose in her book to mark her spot, then jumped up and walked down the street. There weren't many other cars, so we kept a careful distance. She didn't even seem to notice us as she continued to her house. She stopped at every flower on the way.

For two days we followed her everywhere. She lived with one other soul, who was probably her mother, though at first glance they didn't look at all alike. The older woman was tall and slightly round, where the girl was tiny and delicate. The woman had red streaked curly hair in contrast with the daughter's full golden hair. But, in the few times we got close enough for a good look, they each had the same button nose, the same dimpled chin.

I was able to go for a walk or two in front of the house; the clouds in this area kept the sunlight from hitting my eyes and giving me away. No one came to visit the house. The two souls didn't often talk on the phone. The girl was usually reading a book or gathering flowers. She went on walks every day, coming back with arms full of flowers either that she had picked herself or gotten at a flower stand a few blocks away.

I liked her very much.

"So," I said after we had parked and were trying to settle down for the night, "what do you think?"

"I like her," Jared said. "She may be a little young, but she's so delicate. It won't matter that Wanda's a terrible liar, no one could ever distrust that face. Everyone who meets her would want to keep her safe. I already want to protect her."

"That's what I think, too." I smiled at him. "Hopefully, with a face like that, we won't need Wanda to keep a body guard with her at all times. Even though she'll probably have one anyway." I doubted that Ian would let Wanda with a body out of his sight any more than Wanda without a body.

"And besides," I added, "it's a good thing she's so young. She'll have a much larger percentage of life as a soul over life as a human. That makes it less likely that the human who belonged with the body is still there." I turned to Jaime. "What about you?"

His eyes popped wide. "Huh?"

As of this point, we hadn't asked Jaime's opinion on the bodies; Jared and I had rejected them too early for him to have a say.

"Well, you wanted to help, so I'm asking. Do you think this body will be good for our Wanderer?"

He thought for a moment, then a smile slowly spread across his face. "Yeah. She's so pretty! And small and fragile. She looks kind of like an angel. It definitely looks like Wanda."

"Then I think we've got our girl. Now to take her home. Jared, what's the plan?"


	5. Inserted

Chapter 5 – Inserted

It was warmer on the day we set our trap. I waited beside the house three doors down from our object's home. Just as she had the last two days, the girl came out and walked up the street. Thankfully, she had waited until the sun was closer to setting, so there was too little light to shine in my eyes. As she walked past me, I came out of my hiding place and called to her.

"Excuse me?"

She turned, and then looked surprised to see me.

"Hi," she said with a smile. Her voice was high, like a child's.

"Hello. My name is Melanie." I tried to put on a convincing expression. "I'm new in town, and I think I'm lost."

She smiled a perfect set of white teeth. Now that I was close enough, I could see how her eyes were huge and gray. Her skin almost had a silver sheen to it to match and a light dusting of freckles across her nose.

Her face showed all the concern of a friendly soul upon hearing of my predicament. "Oh! Where are you trying to go? I'll take you. Our car is just back-"

I interrupted her. "No, it's not far." A car wouldn't be necessary. Jared and Jaime were waiting just down the side street. We had checked the names and knew she took this alley often. "I was going for a walk, but now can't find my way back to Becker Street."

It wasn't as strange as I thought it would be, talking to a soul in broad daylight like this. Wanda had taken me with her so many times that it almost felt like second nature to me.

Almost. I was still a little jumpy.

"You're very close. It's just around the second corner up that way. But you can cut right through the little alley here. It takes you straight there."

Perfect. "Could you show me? I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"Of course! Come with me. I'm Petals Open to the Moon, but my family mostly calls me Pet. Where are you from, Melanie?"

I had to laugh at her name. Pet. How fitting for this gentle creature that was about to become a pet soul to a whole crew of humans.

"Do you mean San Diego or the Singing World, Pet?"

"Either one." She was perfectly at ease, laughing with me. I almost felt guilty. But Wanda would pick a perfect world to send her to. "There are two bats on this street, they live in that yellow house with the pine trees."

I could see Jared and Jaime in the shadows. Jaime looked a little nervous. Jared, of course, was alert and ready.

"I'll have say hello. These are my friends, Pet," I said, watching her expression as she saw the two men in the alley. I didn't want to scare her.

"Oh! Oh hello!" Like any good soul, she stepped right up to Jared and offered him her hand.

He took it, hugging her close and pulling out his can of Sleep in one lithe movement. Before Pet could really react, he had sprayed her face and she fell limp.

Jared caught her quickly and we all rounded the corner. Jaime pulled the back door of the van open and they piled in. I hopped into the driver's seat and tried very hard to not stomp on the gas. I mostly succeeded.

It wasn't until we were 20 miles outside the city limits that we all really started breathing. I had been watching the rear view mirror more than the road.

It was Jaime who finally broke the ice. "Whew, did we do it?"

Jared smirked and ruffled his hair. "I think so. Let's just get home."

We both heartily agreed. We drove straight through the night and the next morning. It was close to afternoon again when we arrived back at the caves. There was a small reception party waiting for us. Aaron and Brandt insisted on checking our eyes before letting us in, Jared carrying Pet, and me and Jaime with a crate of medicine each.

We met Doc and Candy in the hospital, looking like they were still having the same discussion from my first morning. The others following us filed in.

"Got a tank, Doc?" Jared asked as he put Pet down on a cot.

Doc and Candy sprang into action. Doc grabbed the No Pain and Candy took an empty cryotank while asking how long she had been asleep.

"It's already been almost 24 hours," I told her. "We had to drive all the way from Washington."

In what looked like an already practiced series of movements, Doc and Candy removed Petals Open to the Moon, placed her in the tank, and healed the wound in her neck. It all seemed to take less than a minute. They made a very good team.

"Wow, that's how it works?"

I had forgotten that Jaime was still here. Turning, I saw that there were at least a dozen people crowded nearby, each trying to get a look at the new addition to the community. Ian was right up front, Wanda still in his arms.

"Hey, Ian, what do you think? Can I hold Wanda?"

Ian ignored Jaime's second question. "She's perfect. But you know I don't care what she looks like."

"First we need to make sure there's no one else in there," Doc said. "You've been using the chloroform? When was the last dose?"

"Actually," Jared said, "we've been using the stuff Candy told us to get." He brandished his can of Sleep. "Her last spray was a few hours ago."

Candy nodded. "Then it should wear off in about an hour. We'll wait rather than using the Awake."

I liked how she seemed to almost be taking over the hospital. She was clearly perfectly comfortable here.

We spent the next day rotating our time with Pet, talking to her, trying to get her to respond. I couldn't help but feel like no one was doing it wholeheartedly, but no one could say we didn't try.

The following morning, Jared and I found Ian in the hospital, alone with Pet. He was talking to her, but it sounded more like he was talking to Wanda. One of his hands, as always, was occupied with a lit cryotank, but the other was stroking the billowing blond hair of the tiny girl on the cot.

I cleared my throat to announce us. "Has she responded at all?"

He shook his head at me. "Nothing."

We joined him next to Pet. "Well, I think it's time then."

Ian's face broke into the first genuine smile I'd seen from him in ages. He also didn't say anything. I belatedly noticed how quiet he had been. I wondered if he had just been sad about Wanda, or if he was naturally a quiet person and Wanda opened him up. I'd have to ask Jared later.

"We'll go get Doc," Jared offered.

Doc was in the river rooms, washing dishes. When we told him what we wanted, five other people jumped up with him. We made quite the parade through the tunnels. I made one stop to pick up Jaime from school. He should be there when she woke up, but Doc refused his requests to help in the actual process. I would have said the same.

Even more people joined us on our walk. Everyone, I was sure, that Wanda would want to see.

Ian looked up with surprise at the crowd that pushed its way into the hospital.

He gave me an incredulous look. "Decided to bring the whole world with you?"

I shrugged. "Don't look at me, they invited themselves."

"I guess they can stay," he commented, "but if they scare her, they're all leaving. We're doing this for Wanda, and I won't let a bunch of nosy people's curiosity make this difficult for her."

It was the most he'd said in days. I supposed that answered my earlier question. Now that he knew Wanda was coming back, he had come back as well.

Candy and Doc were a team again, No Pain, flip, cloth, incision. Ian was the one who handled the tank, though. I didn't think anyone could have picked Wanda up with more care. He marveled at her for one moment before guiding her to the opening waiting for her.

Being only my second insertion, I couldn't be sure, but it seemed to me that Wanda stretched herself out in a fraction of the time it had taken Sunny.

As soon as Doc had her flipped back over, Ian was talking to her.

"Wanda? Can you hear me, Wanda?"

I joined him. "Wanda. Come back. We aren't letting you go."

"Use the Awake," Candy told us.

Doc had a can next to him. He gave one small puff, and we all watched her eyes flutter and her breathing come faster.

"Wanderer," Ian said, leaning in and holding her hands tightly, "we're all waiting for you, honey. Open your eyes."

Her fingers twitched and Ian responded by cupping her cheek with his hand. Then he lightly kissed her lips and her eyelids. When he moved away, she started to slowly blink.

"She's waking up!" Jaime crowed.

She opened her eyes, getting her first look straight up to the ceiling, the blue sky showing through.

Ian tried to catch her attention. "Wanderer?" She blinked a few times, and then I saw her look straight into Ian's eyes.

"Ian?"

Wanderer was home.


End file.
